The $2.8 billion Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano (AKK) pipeline will be activated for export early 2026, Group CEO of NNPC Ltd, Bashir Ojulari, has said.

The update followed a recent tour of the project by the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Gas), Ekperikpe Ekpo, accompanied by Ojulari, and the Company’s Executive Vice President (Gas, Power, and New Energy), Olalekan Ogunleye.

The AKK pipeline, first conceived in 2008, is central to Nigeria’s ambition to leverage its vast gas reserves for economic growth. Its completion could transform the north, where chronic power shortages and a lack of energy infrastructure have stifled manufacturing for decades.

Ojulari, after briefing President Bola Tinubu on Sunday, noted that the company has completed welding the main line of the pipeline, including the critical River Niger crossing – a feat that has stalled progress for years.

The milestone, he said, has cleared the way for connecting the pipeline early next year.

Ojulari said once activated, the project will “bring gas in its full form into the northern part of Nigeria.”

“This is not just about energy,” Ojulari said. “It’s about industrialisation – fertiliser plants, power generation, and gas-based industries in Kaduna, Kano, Abuja, and Ajaokuta. We expect to see industrial parks spring up.”

Ojulari also revealed NNPC’s production targets: oil output is expected to rise to 1.8 million barrels per day in 2026, up from about 1.7 million this year, while gas production will continue to climb.

He credited structural reforms under the Petroleum Industry Act for enabling NNPC to operate as a profit-driven company, no longer reliant on federal allocations.

Ojulari said President Tinubu reaffirmed his push for $30 billion in new investments by 2030 and oil output of 2 million barrels per day by 2027.

The NNPC GCEO noted that upon completion, the pipeline network will deliver economic opportunities, boost power supply, and drive national industrialisation, ushering in a new era of energy and economic security for the country. (Channels)